If I am often seen at the theater, people will cease to notice me.
—Napoleon
Today, in a world inundated with presence through the flood of images, the game of withdrawal is powerful. We rarely know when to withdraw anymore, and nothing seems private, so we are awed by anyone who is able to disappear by choice. In the science of economics, the law of scarcity gives us this truth: too much circulation makes the price go down. But by withdrawing something from the market, you create instant value. In seventeenth-century Holland, the upper classes wanted to make the tulip more than just a beautiful flower—they wanted it to be a kind of status symbol. Making the flower scarce, indeed almost impossible to obtain, they sparked what was later called tulipomania. A single flower was now worth more than its weight in gold. Extend the law of scarcity to your own skills. Make what you are offering the world rare and hard to find, and you instantly increase its value.
Daily Law: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
The 48 Laws of Power
, Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor